Photo: Many of today's compact electronics and energy-efficient "green" technologies are based on components containing rare-earth elements. Pictured clockwise, from top center, are mounds of praseodymium, cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium. (Peggy Greb/Agricultural Research Service/USDA)Battling a Mineral Monopoly - -Defense News
As China Tightens Grip, Molycorp Ready To Step Up
As U.S. Defense Department officials complete a comprehensive review of the components used to build most U.S. weapon systems, analysts and industry officials say the Pentagon will discover it is almost entirely dependent on China, its chief economic and military rival, for some key minerals.
Beijing possesses a substantial amount of the Earth's rarest elements within its borders, and Chinese officials have been aggressively buying other such deposits across the globe. The Asian giant uses its monopoly position to raise market prices by cutting production and exports, in part to encourage companies to relocate manufacturing plants there.
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My Comment: A good and excellent review on the importance of these metals was done by the CBC 2 years ago. The link to that story is here.
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